'Jurassic' dinos shake earth, boost North American box office

By

AFP

PublishedMonday, July 02, 2018

Big-grossing films "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" and "Incredibles 2" again dominated the North American box office this weekend, but two new entrants beat expectations to place third and fourth, according to industry estimates on Sunday.

Nelson and Holly Hunter, were expected to do well. The former is nearing the $1 billion mark globally, while "Incredibles" is set to become the second-biggest animated film ever in North America, after "Finding Dory."

But Variety said that two new films, Sony's "Sicario: Day of the Saldado" and Lionsgate's "Uncle Drew," had easily outperformed industry expectations to place third and fourth.

The "Sicario" sequel, an action thriller starring Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin, took in $19 million, outperforming the well-reviewed original film by $7 million. Its highly-topical premise has CIA agent Brolin teaming up with hitman Del Toro to fight drug cartels smuggling "terrorists" across the Mexican border.

On a lighter note, "Uncle Drew" draws on the talents of basketball stars present and past -- Kyrie Irving, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Lisa Leslie and Reggie Miller, with a court-full of others in cameo roles.

Hard-luck streetball team manager Uncle Drew (Irving, in a role that originated in a Pepsi ad) rounds up his old crew ahead of a big tournament in Brooklyn. The film took in $15.5 million.

"Ocean's 8" from Warner Bros. slipped two spots to fifth place, taking in $8 million in its fourth week out. The female-centric heist film stars Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway.